
A thick pink blob of strawberries hit the mall when I was eleven years old and I willingly threw myself in its path every chance I got. After slipping quarters into the Ms. Pac-Man game, adjusting my leg warmers, and spraying my hair with an entire can of Aqua Net, I was ready to tear the smoothie place apart in the food court. A friend of mine introduced me to the strawberry smoothie after she saw me eating a larger-than-life bean burrito.
“Why eat all of that when you could have dessert and lunch at the same time in the form of a smoothie? It’s sooo good. All you need is one and you won’t have to eat the rest of the day.”
I dumped that burrito in the trash and followed her to the smoothie place and tried the banana-strawberry-papaya juice-concoction. It was fantastic, but I still wanted a burrito. So, I ordered large burritos and large strawberry smoothies and went home and ate large pizzas and bags of chocolate chunk Cheryl’s cookies. Ahh—those were the days. If I did that now, I’d be in a world of hurt.
Fortunately, the smoothie place was a kind of “open-air” design in the middle of the food court so customers could watch the “smoothie man,” make various drinks in large blenders. Then, we could memorize the ingredients and try to make our own versions at home. For the drink I always ordered, he threw in frozen strawberries, papaya juice, honey, and bananas. I never knew the amounts, but eventually, I could make a pretty good copy with orange juice as a substitute because I could never find papaya juice in the grocery stores where my family shopped.
It has been a while since I’ve pulled out the blender and made a strawberry smoothie for myself, but it’s the end of February, I’m ready for spring, and I think I’m starting to get scurvy because I haven’t actually eaten any fruit in a while. In fact, I don’t want to eat fruit. I want to drink it—in the form of a smoothie.
Here’s the recipe, if you feel you’re setting sail for scurvy town:
Ingredients:
½ cup of frozen strawberries
½ banana—not frozen—fresh
1-2 tablespoons honey
¼ of orange juice—add more if you want a thinner smoothie. I like mine thick enough to eat with a spoon.
Method:
Throw all of the ingredients into a blender. Smash them down with a rubber spatula from time to time if the blender gets “stuck.” (Make sure the power on the blender is turned off though—especially before removing the lid of the blender.)
Pour the mixture into a glass and enjoy. For added fun, I suppose you could add a shot of Vodka or two—or possibly rum. Right now, where I am, it’s breakfast time. So I’ll be chasing the smoothie down with a bean burrito.
In other news: I kept my New Year’s promise and started a business. It’s called Paper/Rock Writing Consultation and here’s a link to my brand new website for that company. Feel free to check it out (Nate did the logo–he’s so talented!) https://paperrockwriting.com/
Also, two of my ghost/horror short stories have been accepted for publication in March and April in Theme of Absence and Coffin Bell Journal. I’ll send links when they’re available. Cheers!
Your Turn: Do you enjoy smoothies? What’s your favorite? Share a recipe if you want.
We make a smoothie every morning for breakfast, though we usually use frozen fruit. That way, it doesn’t spoil by the end of the week!
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Frozen fruit is awesome! It adds a lovely texture and just the right cool temperature, without having to crush ice.
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see, that;’s why we never met. I hung out at the Orange Julius stand.
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Ah! The Orange Julius thing never really caught on in Ohio. We’re lucky we got smoothies and the occasional Duran Duran hit during the 80s.
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Love smoothies! We have one every morning. Such a great way to start the day!
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That is a great way to start the morning. I want to make it a habit.
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Congratulations on your new business, and for your two stories being accepted! Looking forward to the links!
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Thanks again!
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P.S., love what you are doing for your business, bravo, you!
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Thanks! I’m excited to start advertising and get to work.
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Congratulations on your acceptance!! Wonderful news. I love a smoothie with a dab of peanut butter.
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Thanks! Yes–peanut butter sounds heavenly–as in a chocolate/peanut butter smoothie. Darn! I’m hungry again. Now I’ll have to go make one.
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Oooooo, my girls will love making these! I usually use almond milk for calcium…I wouldn’t want rickets 😉
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Almond milk sounds delicious!
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I think I need to buy a blender, that sounds delicious 🙂
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I need to do this more often–it was so refreshing to drink a smoothie again!
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This made me want to dig my blender out from the back of the cabinet!
Congratulations on your new business! A round of smoothies for everyone! 🙂
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Thanks!
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Hi Cecelia, my first time dropping by your blog. It’s a great blog so I’ll be following along from now on. And thank you for following mine. I’m sure we’ll get to know each other from across the seas and I’m sure you’re going to make a great contribution to my daily learning about all sorts of stuff.
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Hi, Chris–thanks so much for stopping by! It’s a pleasure to be following your blog as well. I’m looking forward to reading more:)
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My post have been house bound lately, but I’ll be get out and about again soon. I’ll look forward to showing you around this little area…
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MMM. sure, thank you, I’ll have one.
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Enjoy!
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Congratulations on the stories and good luck with the business. You’re a great writer..
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Thanks for the kind words!
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Always bring a good stuff. You are so amazing. How are you? It’s been a while since we visited each other. Either I have not seen your post in the wordpress feed or missed it. Oh BTW, you should add one of your recipe to our “food favorites”. Check it out on my blog so we all can support each other. Take care. I need to make this smoothie.
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Hi, Bushra! I’m doing well–and you? Thanks for the kind words–I’m very much enjoying your posts-so well done! I will definitely check out the “recipe favorites”–sounds like a great addition to your blog. Cheers!
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Yes, you should bring your favorite recipe, always have good stuff to share. It’s open till tomorrow. Just post the link of your recipe you already had or let us know if you want to do a new one. Oh it’s always nice to visit you.
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